‘I will warn you before we begin,’ writes Jasmin Kirkbride, ‘this is not a book for the faint-hearted. It is, however, a brilliant, painfully emotive evocation of the powerlessness of women in patriarchal societies, and also in a more subtle way the miseries we inflict on those suffering mental illness by not approaching them with due humanity. As such, I very strongly recommend it.’

‘There is no doubt,’ she concludes, ‘that Sam Youd does an exemplary job of getting himself into the female mindset, on a par with Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha. A must-read for fans of all literature, but expect echoes of the books implications to haunt you for a good while after reading. It’s been a week and I’m still thinking about it!’

To see the whole review, go to http://jasminonajourney.wordpress.com/2014/02/17/sarnia-by-hilary-ford-aka-sam-youd/.